Book of Sigmarion III: Chapter 1 Revival of the Ancient Warrior (Part II): An experiment of solder-free battery repairing

Previously in the Book of Sigmarion III ...

The battery is dead! The cells are dead dead!

The only means to resuscitate the dead battery pack is by replacing the dead cells inside. They are 3.7V 18500 (NOT the much more common 18650!). 

My little champion proclaims, "Here came the rescue, my friend!"

 

These are the new Panasonic 18500 cells I bought, each holding 2,040mAh (vs. the original with 1,500 mAh ...that's 33% more). HKD$59 (about USD$7.5) each piece. This busy shop also sells many different brand batteries. The cells were tested with 3.49V in the shop before paying. So they should be good to go.

18500 are actually not that easy to find. I had to check quite a few shops before I finally spotted these at a much more reasonable price. In another shop the people charged another big brand for 3 times more!

My Level 1 Battery skill allows me to go ahead with just these: a sculpting knife, a phone opener, masking tape, a pair of new cells, (my ten fingers of course!) ... and my trusted little warrior as my cheerleader.  [Note: Forgot to mention my important clamp here!  👀"]

First things first. Carefuly peel off the stickers on the case. They are pretty thick labels and still look so new after all these years. This is what made in Japan means.

Don't forget about the stickers! Using the back paper of a used label sheet is a good idea to keep them in great condition. (I always find it useful so never simply throw it away.) Just remember to put them back when the job is all done.

To avoid doing careless cuts and marks on the battery casing, I covered the areas around the seams with masking tape.

Okay. Now start scoring carefully, slowly, and not too hard along the seam. Added note: Slant the blade slightly such that you can feel it sinking into the seam (there should be only one direction to do that). Expect to do it several dozens of times before things happen.This is the most boring step. Why not put on some podcasts?

I was almost there. But I removed the tape too soon. So I scored the rifts several more times using my left thumb to push and guide the blade.

After a few rounds of scoring, use the phone opener to widen the gaps. Keep repeating this cycle a few times.

The result didn't look too decent. But it's time to move on.

Pay attention to the direction of the rift. Usually the edge of one half is inserted behind the other half. 

The moment of truth, at last. I HAVE THE POWER~~!!

A dead body was found lying in the coffin.

The main reason why it's hard to pull out the cells is because they are taped to the casing. Just try to remove the tape and the adhesives bit by bit. Do it slowly and gently. Be careful not to break the wiring and avoid squeezing the circuit board.  Patience is gold.

This is the pathetic reality of a deceased battery. The dead cells looked like real corpses. So unsightly. 

Use a small clamp to carefully pull the connecters off the dead cells. Battery cells are typically spot  soldered to the connecters. The joints are pretty tiny so some gentle wrangling will suffice. Remember don't try to yank it or do it too rashly. Breaking the connecters will invite you to do the extra work of rebuilding the components. And I strongly advise against using sharp knives to cut off the connections. Cutting into the cells can be a recipe for disaster, and even apocalyspe.

So this is the innards of most battery packs. Without an intact charging circuit, the battery will be sent below the bottom of hell. No necromantic magic can bring it back.

 

Now use a clamp to flatten and restore the twisted metal connectors.

The old cells and the new cells were of identical size. That's real gospel to hear!

I thought it was a good practice to write down the date of installation (I made a mistake by using the purchase date. But it didn't really matter as the cells were bought just the day before). 

I had no intention or guts to apply any soldering to the cells. Sounds too dangerous. So I started chanting the Lost verse "I do believe in duct tape. I do believe in duct tape. I do belive in duct tape. Duct tape, duct tape, ...."

(A couple of minutes later)

Having put the new connceted cells back into the casing, I couldn't wait to see what would happen next. 

Charging really worked (the orange light indicator)! Hooray!

Mission accomplished. Gained 500 EXP! Battery skill now reaches Level 2! Thank you, my little champion!

[UPDATE 20201005: After running the Sigmarion III on the new cells for a few days, I can verify that they run very well! Now the Sigmarion III is even more juicy than ever! 👍 ]